


i to the world am like a drop of water

by itsprobably2amhere



Series: their exits and their entrances [2]
Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Lots Of People Grimace (I'm Sorry It's Just Fun To Make Them Do That), Mental Health Issues, The Outsider Incognito, don't come back to life after millenia of godhood at home kids, he got better though and that's what counts, i promise the original characters aren't going to be more than a bit part
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-30
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2019-01-07 00:50:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12222393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsprobably2amhere/pseuds/itsprobably2amhere
Summary: Sort-of sequel toout, darned spot. Can be read alone, but there's not much fun in that, in my opinion.Wherein a waitress, an assistant cook and a janitor like gossipping about their new coworker, not quite realizing how far the rumours will travel.





	i to the world am like a drop of water

**Author's Note:**

> so uh, forewarning!  
> the outsider is Kind Of Fucked Up from having Actually Died and the effects of said brain stuff is part of the gossip. it's mentioned he has accidentally hurt himself and sort of gotten hypnotized about it and a bit delighted at one point and it's mainly bc now he can Actually Feel Shit  
> also he doesn't like getting his clothes wet because yknow kinda hard to like getting your clothes wet when you died drowning  
> i promise this is mostly about gossip  
> also: ocs are bit characters, i promise! i tried to make them Not Annoying but i might've failed whoops. also, i don't have the squiggly accent on my keyboard so i took some artistic license names. dh did that first in my defense. anyways: fic.

 

Corvo sighed, woken up with a start from yet another dream of falling. Falling from a piece of floating rock in the Void, seemingly endlessly, until he hit the sea like a stone and sunk right into it. Third this week. Usually, hitting the water was enough to wake him up, but now he'd had to wait until he drowned.

His powers had been acting out these last few weeks, and he and Emily had perceived a shift. Now, the question had changed from “is something happening?” to “what is happening?”; he was itching to answer it, but it had been a busy time for them both. Running an Empire was hard, and needed bodyguarding in multiple events.

Corvo stood up and out of the bed, and stretched. He’d slept dressed, and his clothes were wrinkled. He yawned silently as he walked towards the door, and once out, to the dining room.

At the table, Emily sat, hair frizzy and still in her pajamas, sipping from a china cup and checking the papers she needed to check every morning. News, the Royal Spymaster’s notes, often complaints from the Abbey… All sorts of things needed attention, at all hours and constantly, thought Corvo half-dazedly, and he sat at the table.

“Morning, Emily.”

“Morning, father. There’s something here that might interest you.”

Corvo raised his eyebrows.

“There’s been whispers of a strange boy in Karnaca. A boy who knows far too much, and talks strangely, and unnerves everyone he speaks with. And the Abbey has already complained that a young man with features, and I quote, ‘strangely similar to the Outsider’ has been seen roaming around…” She grimaced.

Corvo blinked. Well, shit.

He got up, now fully woken up, and walked around the table. He was worried. He was also incredibly, enormously pissed, although he didn’t exactly know where to redirect it, and surprised at the fact that this was a thing that was happening to him. Right now.

“I’d tell you to stop worrying, but I’m worried too.” spoke Emily. She finished her coffee and set the cup down. “I’ve decided we’re to leave for Karnaca in a few hours.”

Corvo nodded.

* * *

Time passed, as it often does.

* * *

Far away, in Karnaca, a young man was washing dishes at a prestigious restaurant’s kitchen. He was silent, concentrated in his task, and so he at first didn’t notice the man and the two women a couple of meters away from him.

There were whispers about that young man; he had an aura of eeriness that made rumours and gossip easier to form and travel. He’d presented himself as Marcus Foster, but he never answered to the name, not right away. He hadn’t sworn by the Outsider once in his stay, and flinched a little, sometimes, when people did. He knew far too much to be normal; once he’d approached Aarón and Mako and asked some deeply personal questions no one in the kitchen knew the answers to but themselves, when they hadn’t spoken to him once. He wouldn’t react with pain when he got burnt, just confusion and a strange delight. He would freeze if he got soaked from the rain. He’d willingly stay behind to scrub the dishes clean until his fingers bled. He would, most often than not, sleep less in eight hours and more in strategically-placed catnaps through the day. And his voice -- when he used it -- although hoarse, could cut right across the noise of the room, and make shivers crawl down your spine. He reminded Joâo of a statue, somehow, and he was arguing in whispers about it with Mai and Ella.

“Ella, seriously, don’t you notice anything weird about the kid?” he asked, furrowing his brow further.

“He looks like a nice person! He hasn’t talked to me, and that’s enough for me.” manifested Ella, a tad awkwardly. She crossed her arms. “And anyways, he’s a bit strange, yes, and who isn’t around these parts? I swear, the things I’ve seen some rich folk do…” She was a waitress, so she was around them a lot. They’d done… well, best not specify, but Ella was always ready to grab metaphorical brain bleach. She didn’t need to know how a particular singer sounded moaning when _something_ went on under a table, thank you.

Mai grimaced. “He looks so familiar, but I can’t place it. Where have I seen him before?”

“Maybe he’s the bastard of some noble,” suggested Joâo. “Maybe he’s related to the Empress.”

“I sorely doubt it, since he’s washing our plates. If he really was a bastard, he would’ve been, well…” Ella wasn’t sure, but she was fairly sure a bastard would have a better life than a dishwasher. No, he was a commoner, for sure.

“I’ve heard he’s been sighted with that awful woman in the posters, Foster or something…” commented Mai. “Maybe they’re related?”

“Maybe they’re lovers.”

“He’s far too pale for them to be related, I doubt it. And she’s far too old for him.”

“Maybe--”, and Ella was interrupted when Foster himself spoke up.

“You’re speaking about me.”

The three staff members froze. Ella coughed into her fist, Joâo grimaced and looked away, and Mai spoke up.

“You’re odd. We don’t know much about you, and we’re curious. There’s plenty of gossip, too.”

“If you’re curious,” he replied, turning around, “just ask me.”

“Uh… what’s your name? Your real name?” tried Ella.

“Well, the closest translation is Mark.”

“The closest--? Nevermind.” Ella shook her head.

“Why did you act like that the other day? When it rained, and you came in soaked, and shivering, and you looked shaken the entire day.” Joâo didn’t recognize the voice speaking until he realized it was his own. Mark’s face hardened.

“Bad memories.” It was a voice that admitted no more questions on the topic.

“What’s this Foster woman to you?”, asked Ella again.

Mark bit his lip. “A friend, I suppose. Are you Mai or Ella?”

“How-- um, ehem. I’m Ella.” He was so weird. He must’ve overheard their names… “And you’ve admitted to being accomplice of a criminal. You’ll go to jail if they catch you.” She didn’t have any love for the law; this was a warning.

“I know this is a warning, Ella. But isn’t simply existing a crime, these days?” He shrugged, still holding a dish. Ella squealed. Did he-- Could he read her mind?

“And no, I can’t read your mind. But I already know enough to make a polite guess at what you'll say.” He turned around and resumed washing the dishes before Mai spoke.

“Are you?”

He paused. “Am I _what_?”

“Related to the Empress. Lots of Royal Bastards around, lately.”

Mark’s shoulders shook. And they shook again. Laughter bubbled up to his mouth from his stomach, growing from a giggle into an incredulous howl. It took about a minute for him to stop; he guffawed, bent over a pile of half-washed plates.

His laughter ended with a chuckle. “Would you… would you believe me,” he asked, “if I told you I’m not, I’m not a royal bastard, but I’m a personal friend of both the Empress and the Royal Protector?”

Mai’s eyes widened, and she took a step back. Joâo let out an incredulous giggle, and Ella spoke:

“Are you serious?”

“As serious as, as murder, Miss Campos.” He shook his head. He was barely sixteen, that’s what he was. What kind of teenager could’ve been friends with an Empress? Although he did talk like a far, far older person...

Ella blinked at him. That must-- He must’ve-- An imaginative kid. Maybe he’d read a lot of books. Maybe he was rich and had run away from home, and he was now being charming with them, and, well. There was something about the kid that creeped her out. Better leave it alone. The restaurant was about to close for the night, anyways. She shrugged, turned around and left the kitchen, Mai and Joâo following suit.

A while passed. The Outsider didn’t even turn around at his visitor, just tilted his head.

“Hello, Billie.”

“Mark. What did I tell you about telling people about yourself?”

“They won’t ever believe it, Billie. I’ve been calculating how the gossip will spread well.” He cleared his throat.

“Congratulations, then. You’ve calculated them so well, we’ve got visits.”

Mark lifted his eyebrows and turned around, arms crossed. “That was the plan.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> before you ask YES aarón and mako are gay NO the outsider didn't out them he just happened to find them in a corner of the kitchen and ask just to be sure if aarón was into a certain kink YES his name is mark foster YES mark lurk is a stupid name NO his real name isn't actually mark but billie had to call him something. thanks for watching please like and subscribe


End file.
